Future looks bright for Tactic King
Promising Zabeel gelding Tactic King has taken time to hit his straps since arriving in Hong Kong but on his brilliant display in winning the final race at Sha Tin on Sunday there appears every chance he will graduate to better races.
The David Ferraris-trained gelding landed from Australia with three wins from seven starts, but it hasn't been until the last month that he has really started to blossom.
On Sunday he was ridden more prominently by Weichong Marwing and he looked set for a solid victory 200 metres out before switching into another gear and simply decimating his rivals.
He really let down smartly in the final stages in a performance that indicated he would have little trouble negotiating a longer trip.
The Zabeel progeny just get better with age and Tactic King should come back next season with a strong chance to make a name for himself.
Stablemate Disguise is another that will be a force to be reckoned with next season and, even though he was beaten as favourite behind Winning Bullet, the performance was excellent.
The Redoute's Choice three-year-old was forced to race three wide without cover throughout the race and gave Winning Bullet the perfect drag into the event.
He showed terrific fight when joined by the winner and his performance to be beaten by only three-quarters of a length showed great character.
Happee Owner was another that was forced to do it the tough way before winding up third to San Lorenzo and My Choice in a three-way photo.
The Tony Cruz-trained gelding was four wide early in the race before Felix Coetzee was left with little option to push forward and he eventually slid across to race outside the leader, Bobo Win.
He managed to find the front in the straight despite his extra workload before being gunned down by two horses that had enjoyed energy-saving runs along the fence.
Happee Owner continues to improve at each outing and he appears to have the potential to measure up to Group races in time.
The performance of Anabaa juvenile Northern Hero in the opening contest was outstanding and it won't be too long before the Tony Millard-trained gelding opens his winning account.
Northern Hero was slow from his wide barrier (11) and settled a long last before making up many lengths when coming wide in the home straight to finish fourth to the impressive Bear Macho.
He has shown good ability at the trials and gives the indication he will only improve with time and when the races get a bit longer.
